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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25856023">knight in shining armor</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/aalphard/pseuds/aalphard'>aalphard</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>banana fish prompt fills [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Banana Fish (Anime &amp; Manga)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon Compliant, Domestic, M/M, Not in a Weird Way - Freeform, Sleeptalking, Watching Someone Sleep, kind of, this is very self indulgent actually</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 06:33:57</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,293</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25856023</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/aalphard/pseuds/aalphard</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p>“Come on, Eiji,” he whispers. “Let go of me now.”</p>
  <p>“Dangerous,” is what he says back.</p>
  <p>For a few seconds, Ash tenses up. Every fiber in his being is screaming at him, urging him to <i>run, run away, hide, take Eiji with you and hide, hide, hide,</i> as his eyes desperately scan the room searching for something that could be used as a weapon against whoever it is that’s hiding here. But when Eiji sighs, nuzzling him again, his muscles start to relax on their own, although Ash is still very much concerned about potential danger now. When Eiji starts to babble about <i>the princess dragon in the tower</i> and something about <i>the sword of swords,</i> Ash almost screams.</p>
  <p>So <i>that</i> is why he was mumbling about danger. He’s dreaming.</p>
</blockquote>or eiji sleeptalks and ash is whipped.
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ash Lynx/Okumura Eiji</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>banana fish prompt fills [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1727179</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>229</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Banana Fish</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>knight in shining armor</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>so banana fish is finally being printed where i live and the first volume arrived like last week and ever since i’ve been thinking about it nonstop so HELLO AGAIN LONG TIME NO SEE </p>
<p>this is also very self-indulgent because i really need some fluff in my life rn so enjoy &lt;3 </p>
<p>based on this prompt!</p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p>person A picking up sleepy person B and carrying them to bed and person B just snuggles their face into person A’s shoulder” + “i understand the whole sleep talking thing but what i don’t understand is the princess dragon dream and why i’m in it</p>
</blockquote>(it’s also literally 3am where i live and i am beyond exhausted but i wrote this instead of sleeping so i apologize in advance for any grammar/spelling mistakes you might encounter!)
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was one of those days where sleep didn’t honor him with its presence. Maybe because of what they were going through, maybe because of past trauma or maybe because of literally anything else. Living in constant fear was bound to make one lose a few nights of sleep sometimes, after all. That and, well, the fact that now there was someone whom he desperately wanted to protect. He wasn’t a knight in shining armor and he sure as hell wouldn’t be the one to make him the happiest person in the world – he didn’t know how to. <em>Hell,</em> how could he, when all he knew was pain?</p>
<p>Still, he’s here. And Eiji’s here as well, snoring softly on the couch as soon as Ash opens the door. He’s wearing that worn-out red sweater and his jeans, messy hair all around and a tiny pout on his face, eyes scrunched shut and face twisted in discomfort.</p>
<p>He tries to walk around without making noise, which proves itself to be a hard task. Eiji whines in his sleep and Ash feels a tug in his heart weighing him down. He didn’t have nightmares before he came here, apparently, because the first few nights they shared a room he didn’t hear anything. Gradually, though, he started to hear whimpering and jumbled out words coming from the bed next to his and that’s when he knew. Looking back to the couch where Eiji is, Ash allows himself to smile a tiny bit. It’s not a happy smile, but something along the lines of bittersweet. He wants him, he wants him here – but he also doesn’t want him to stay any longer. He doesn’t need to, doesn’t deserve it.</p>
<p>He tried to sleep, for hours and hours he’d been thrashing around, kicking off his blankets only to pull them up again. Eiji had been asleep when he decided he needed some fresh air to cool his head. Things were harder now and everywhere he looked, there was pain and blood and death and honestly he was growing tired of it. He had allowed himself to look at Eiji once more before picking up a jacket and his shoes and getting out of the room without making noise. A task he failed at, apparently, because now Eiji was uncomfortably cramped on the couch, arms tucked under his body in a weird way only so he could fit whole on top of it.</p>
<p>So that was something else for the list of <em>Things Ash Fails Horribly At</em>.</p>
<p>Eiji mumbles something in his sleep and Ash smiles fondly at him. It’s times like these that make him wonder if things could’ve been different for him if he’d been born somewhere else, to a different family. Preferably one where he could meet Eiji and they’d live happily ever after without ever needing to worry about gangs or drugs or death. In a different world, Ash thinks, they could’ve been happy together.</p>
<p>“You’re home,” he hears, widening his eyes when he sees that Eiji is scratching his eyes, slightly puffy, and smiling sweetly up at him. Ash nods, smile fading from his face. “Welcome back.”</p>
<p>“Shouldn’t you be asleep?”</p>
<p>“I was,” he retorts.</p>
<p>“Why on the couch?”</p>
<p>“I heard you leaving and I got worried,” he whines, yawning. “I thought you’d gotten in trouble and I wanted to help but I ended up falling asleep again before finding my shoes. Oops.”</p>
<p>Ash snorts, shaking his head. That’s so typical of him he doesn’t even have the words to reprimand him anymore. Eiji yawns again, sighing before letting his arms fall down again. He looks immensely tired – and it doesn’t come as a surprise. Ash doesn’t blame him. It must’ve been tough to keep up with everything when, up until a few months ago, he was a normal guy living a normal life in a country across the globe.</p>
<p>“Come on,” he says. Eiji hums in response. “Let’s get you to bed.”</p>
<p>“’m too tired to move,” he whines.</p>
<p>His eyes are closed and he makes no effort to move. <em>Is that how it is, then…</em></p>
<p>If anyone told him a few months ago that he’d be walking towards a semi-conscious person at a ridiculous hour at night and making an effort to pick them up from his couch and take said person to their <em>shared</em> bedroom, Ash Lynx would say they’d lost their minds. Yet, there he is, walking towards his couch where Eiji is still on the limbo between consciousness and unconsciousness, babbling about something Ash can’t quite understand because, after all, he doesn’t know a single thing about Japanese.</p>
<p>He gets on his knees next to Eiji, who’s now snoring softly. <em>This guy</em>.</p>
<p>“I can let you sleep on the couch if you’d like,” he says.</p>
<p>Eiji’s eyes flutter open and he smiles up at Ash once again. “Don’t wanna.”</p>
<p>“Let’s get you to bed, then,” Ash says once again, patting Eiji’s stomach. “Or do you want me to carry you?”</p>
<p>He doesn’t know what he expects, but surely it’s not Eiji humming while throwing his arms up in the air. Well, to be fair, he <em>did</em> offer. He mutters something about spoiling him as he slowly picks him up, trying his best not to touch that tiny bit of exposed skin on his lower back from where his shirt slid up somewhere along the way. Eiji still snores softly, head falling forward on Ash’s shoulder.</p>
<p>Eiji smells like cheap soap and coffee and if Ash is being honest, it’s the best smell in the world.</p>
<p>“Can you put your arms around my neck?” He asks. Eiji hums before doing just that, one of his hands climbing up to clutch his hair. “I’ll lift you up now, alright?”</p>
<p>Eiji hums again, nuzzling Ash’s neck. Maybe if he got lucky enough to survive this whole shitstorm, he’s sure Eiji would be the death of him. One of these days he’ll just do <em>something</em> and Ash’s heart will implode. That wouldn’t be a bad way to end things, he thinks, and the thought brings a smile to his face.</p>
<p>He’s lighter than Ash would’ve thought he was, though, and he feels soft under his touch. His hair tickles the sensitive spot on his neck, the one right beneath his ear, and he has to muffle a choked shriek when Eiji moves his head to nuzzle him again. He’s very affectionate when he’s sleepy, Ash realizes, and the thought makes his heart flip in a funny way inside his chest. Maybe it’s because he hasn’t had good sleeping schedule recently, but Eiji’s soft breathing right on his neck is making him hot in the worst way possible. He feels dizzy and has to stop walking for a second to ground himself again.</p>
<p>“Seriously,” he sighs.</p>
<p>“You can’t do that, no, no.” Eiji babbles, still asleep, holding Ash tightly. “Ash will get angry…”</p>
<p>Ash snorts before resuming his walk towards the bedroom. Opening the door is already hard enough for his sleep-deprived eyes, and having to hold someone who’s sound asleep doesn’t really help him. Eiji grunts when Ash finally manages to push the door open, holding him a bit tighter, closer and closer to him. It’s hard to breathe but he doesn’t really care – not when he can hold him like this, feeling him in a way he never thought he’d get to. He’s enjoying this too much for his own good…</p>
<p>When he finally gets to Eiji’s bed, though, he realizes it’ll be a pain to let him down when he’s holding him so tightly like this. He sits on the mattress, caressing Eiji’s back and calling his name in a sweet voice. Eiji doesn’t answer, but hums when Ash holds his head, stroking his hair softly.</p>
<p>“Come on, Eiji,” he whispers. “Let go of me now.”</p>
<p>“Dangerous,” is what he says back.</p>
<p>For a few seconds, Ash tenses up. Every fiber in his being is screaming at him, urging him to <em>run, run away, hide, take Eiji with you and hide, hide, hide</em>, as his eyes desperately scan the room searching for something that could be used as a weapon against whoever it is that’s hiding here. But when Eiji sighs, nuzzling him again, his muscles start to relax on their own, although Ash is still very much concerned about potential danger now. When Eiji starts to babble about <em>the princess dragon in the tower </em>and something about <em>the sword of swords</em>, Ash almost screams.</p>
<p>So <em>that</em> is why he was mumbling about danger. He’s dreaming.</p>
<p>“Eiji?”</p>
<p>“Hmm,” he hums, gripping him a bit more tightly. “Ash will get mad, get out of here.”</p>
<p>Ash thinks there are two scenarios where he’d get mad in a world with princess dragons and towers and swords. In one of them, he’s the villain that would eventually be defeated and Eiji would live happily ever after with whoever it is that his mind painted as the prince. The other one, though, means that somehow in his twisted mind, Eiji painted <em>him</em> as the prince and that meant Ash had to rescue him from the princess dragon or whatever. Maybe using said sword of swords or something equally stupid.</p>
<p>Or maybe he was just overthinking things and that didn’t mean anything at all.</p>
<p>But when Eiji whimpers, pulling at his hair, Ash thinks he might be the one who got the villain role in his dreams. He’s not <em>sad</em> about that, not exactly, knowing that seeing Ash doing what he does is enough material for someone to paint him as a bad guy. He kills people and does things most would consider atrocious. <em>Hell</em>, he considers them barbaric and he’s the one who’s doing it. He wouldn’t blame Eiji if that’s how he ended up seeing him, after all. He just hoped, somewhere deep inside, that maybe he didn’t see him like that.</p>
<p>“Ash will kick your ass,” he mumbles again. And then he giggles. “Because he protects, is what he does.”</p>
<p>It shouldn’t have made his heart flip, but it did and all of a sudden Ash doesn’t remember how to breathe. Eiji is too close and Ash can hear his every breath, his every little sleepy sound and he doesn’t think he’s ever been this flustered. He hums softly and sometimes lets out a little snore, nuzzling Ash’s neck like he’s the most comfortable pillow in the world – and, <em>honestly?</em> Ash doesn’t even care. He’s happy to be a pillow or literally anything else Eiji wishes for him to be.</p>
<p>“What am I protecting, Eiji?” He asks in a whisper.</p>
<p>“Me,” he answers in a low tone. “Ash is strong and he punches bad people, he’ll punch the princess dragon and save me again. He does that.”</p>
<p>Just like that, that hint of worry that settled itself on Ash’s shoulders is no more. <em>He punches bad people. He’ll save me again.</em> So that’s what he thinks, what he dreams about. It shouldn’t have made him this happy, but it did and now he’s smiling like a weirdo as he strokes Eiji’s hair. He’ll protect him, alright. He doesn’t really get why the princess or the dragon and much less a princess dragon, but he likes that he shows up like some kind of knight in shining armor to save the day. He likes that Eiji sees him like his knight in shining armor. Or something along those lines.</p>
<p>“And why do you think he does that?” He asks.</p>
<p>Eiji doesn’t answer, but snores softly on his shoulder, his grip on Ash’s hair a little less tight and Ash wonders if he’s now truly asleep. He won’t know any of that happened – and the thought makes something weird pool up in his stomach, but it’s not like it’s any relevant. He knows what Eiji’s dreaming of and that’s enough for him. At least for now.</p>
<p>“Ash is nice,” Eiji mumbles out as Ash tries to untangle his arms from his neck.</p>
<p>“Is he, now?” Ash chuckles.</p>
<p>He hums softly again and Ash takes a look at his face, still sound asleep on his shoulder, letting his arms fall down. He doesn’t want to, but he lets go of him and lets his head hit the pillow. He stretches out as soon as he has his back to the mattress, yawning. Eiji turns to his side and pats the mattress, seemingly looking for something. When his hand finds Ash’s, he sighs, holding it tightly.</p>
<p>“Butter,” he says all of a sudden.</p>
<p>Ash doesn’t mean to, but he laughs, shaking his head at him. <em>What a crazy dream.</em></p>
<p>He looks peaceful now, with his hair sprawled out on the white sheets, mouth parted and no frown in sight. Ash wonders if that’s how he used to sleep when his life was normal, when he had no idea there was this guy called Aslan on the other side of the globe who killed people and ran for his life. He wonders if he’ll ever get to see him sleeping like that somewhere else, if Eiji will ever be able to see him looking like that as well. It makes his chest hurt, thinking about these things.</p>
<p>Eiji starts mumbling again, something in Japanese this time – but he can still hear his name here and there and the pain is overwritten with euphoria. It shouldn’t be a big deal, but all of a sudden it <em>is</em> and he relishes in the fact that Eiji still thinks about him even when he’s sleeping. Not that he’s conscious of it. But it still makes him happy.</p>
<p>“Did Ash save you this time, Eiji?”</p>
<p>“Mm,” Eiji nuzzles his pillow, letting go of Ash’s hand. “He always does…”</p>
<p>That’s enough for him.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>partially inspired by my own sleeptalking moments because apparently i answer when people talk to me??? wild</p></blockquote></div></div>
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